CanCon at TIFF: Atom Egoyan’s latest and Heath Ledger’s final film among newly announced titles

Even though it’s just a press conference, the announcement of TIFF’s Canadian lineup is considered to be the unofficial pre-gala kickoff for locals. Homegrown filmmakers, actors and distributors packed into the Royal York’s Imperial Room yesterday to pose for the camera and decimate the open bar and buffet table in a manner befitting this country’s underfunded film industry. Since a British film—Creation—was chosen for opening night, a Canadian project was widely expected to close the festival. Organizers didn’t disappoint. The honour went to The Young Victoria, a look at titular queen’s early years on the throne directed by C.R.A.Z.Y. filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée. Other notable announcements included:

• Atom Egoyan’sChloe, about a wife (Julianne Moore) who hires a PYT (Amanda Seyfried) to catch her husband (Liam Neeson) in the act of cheating;
• Reginald Harkema’s follow-up to Monkey Warfare—Leslie, My Name Is Evil—will have its world premiere;
• Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, the tale of a travelling theatre show staring Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Heath Ledger in his last role. A Canada-U.K. co-production, this one just squeaked into the CanCon category.

Class of 2009: Cameron Bailey and Piers Handling surrounded by Canadian filmmakers at the Royal York Hotel (Photo by Karon Liu)

The fest is ramping up its unofficial “we love Toronto” theme by screening Mary Pickford’s Sparrowsto celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Hogtown-born actor’s film debut. Plus, an anthology of the city’s film industry will be published before the fest and thankfully will not be titled Toronto the Good (it’s simply called Toronto on Film). And, as usual, the Canada First! program will be focussing on Canuck directors making their debut. This year, the series will open with Sook-Yin Lee’s Year of the Carnivorethat’s inspired by Lee’s life growing up in Vancouver’s suburbs.